To win the AFC East: New England is 5/7 odds
To win the AFC Championship: New England is 11/4 odds
To win the Super Bowl: New England is 6/1 odds

Quick primer if you're not familiar with point spreads. Anytime you see a "-" sign in front of the number, that means New England is the favorite in that game by that amount of points. Anytime it's a "+" that means they're an underdog. So for example New England is a 5 point favorite vs. Indy, but a 1.5 point underdog @ Philadelphia.

For the futures wagers you'll notice the odds look different, notably the Patriots being 5/7 favorites to win the AFC East. That one means that you'd have to wager $700 to win $500 on the Patriots winning the AFC East, and then that proportion all the way down.

Can't see the Pats being a 7 point favorite over the Cowboys and a bigger 8 1/2 point favorite over the Chiefs?

Didn't KC win thier division last year and Dallas missed the playoffs altogether?

Did Dallas do something since February to make thier team better than KC that I am not aware of?

Click to expand...

It's probably because there are a ton of idiot Cowboys fans who will bet on their team no matter how bad the odds you give them are. America's team and all... I'm sure the number is out there somewhere, would be curious to see if the Cowboys have a significantly worse ATS record than average over the past few years.

It's probably because there are a ton of idiot Cowboys fans who will bet on their team no matter how bad the odds you give them are. America's team and all... I'm sure the number is out there somewhere, would be curious to see if the Cowboys have a significantly worse ATS record than average over the past few years.

I'm guessing it's 'only' 7 pts because they made some general improvements under Jason Garrett, and they are still kind of an 'unknown' type of team heading into 2011.

7 is a nice round number, and you have to keep in mind that the 'magic' numbers for pt spreads are often 3, 4, 6, and 7. Those 4 numbers make up a good size of the percentage. It's also terribly early, so choosing "7" makes a lot of sense if you think about, at least for right now.

Even though I will normally be accused of being a homer ten times more often than being a chicken little, my first thought was that I was slightly surprised at how much the Pats are being initially favored by; the Colts and Giants are two examples of games that I am referring to. Maybe my expectations have been tempered by hearing or reading the far too often repeated 'haven't won a playoff game since' phrase for the last six months.

However, upon thinking about it a bit further I believe it shows that a great deal of sports fans - not just Pats fans - have a very high level of respect for this team heading into the (hopefully) 2011 season. Being an odds on favorite to win the division (even when it's only a four team division) is surely a rarity, especially considering the Jets did go 11-5 and beat the Pats in the playoffs.

I'm guessing it's 'only' 7 pts because they made some general improvements under Jason Garrett, and they are still kind of an 'unknown' type of team heading into 2011.

7 is a nice round number, and you have to keep in mind that the 'magic' numbers for pt spreads are often 3, 4, 6, and 7. Those 4 numbers make up a good size of the percentage. It's also terribly early, so choosing "7" makes a lot of sense if you think about, at least for right now.

Click to expand...

Good point, and thanks for the clarification. I almost never bet on 7 point spreads, fwiw. There are too many losing scenarios that way; would rather take a 6 point spread on a game that I'm a little less sure about, any day.

Back to PATSFANINPA's point, then, in addition to what you said I think Vegas has KC pinned as a team that will come back down to earth. Between Weis leaving and having to play a division winner's schedule, I wouldn't be surprised if that division win turns out to be a bit of a fluke. Going 10-6 against a creampuff schedule doesn't inspire a ton of confidence, really.

Even though I will normally be accused of being a homer ten times more often than being a chicken little, my first thought was that I was slightly surprised at how much the Pats are being initially favored by; the Colts and Giants are two examples of games that I am referring to. Maybe my expectations have been tempered by hearing or reading the far too often repeated 'haven't won a playoff game since' phrase for the last six months.

However, upon thinking about it a bit further I believe it shows that a great deal of sports fans - not just Pats fans - have a very high level of respect for this team heading into the (hopefully) 2011 season. Being an odds on favorite to win the division (even when it's only a four team division) is surely a rarity, especially considering the Jets did go 11-5 and beat the Pats in the playoffs.

Apologies in advance to anyone offended by that nasty reminder.

Click to expand...

It's the perceived improvement that this Patriots team will undergo. People tend to forget this team has been in a total rebuild-retool mode since 2008. Couple that with the brilliance of Brady and Belichick being widely considered the best coach in all of US Professional sports and you get what you get.

As for the Steelers game, those odds are mightily attractive to everyone given history.

Good point, and thanks for the clarification. I almost never bet on 7 point spreads, fwiw. There are too many losing scenarios that way; would rather take a 6 point spread on a game that I'm a little less sure about, any day.

Back to PATSFANINPA's point, then, in addition to what you said I think Vegas has KC pinned as a team that will come back down to earth. Between Weis leaving and having to play a division winner's schedule, I wouldn't be surprised if that division win turns out to be a bit of a fluke. Going 10-6 against a creampuff schedule doesn't inspire a ton of confidence, really.

Click to expand...

I have tried a very good 'system' (eyeroll) in where I have not given more than 3 points at any time in the past couple of years, and it seriously improved my won/loss percentage a great deal.

Just favorites of 3 or less, and all underdogs. It does limit the supposed 'blowouts' that look like easy money, but as we know a lot of times they aren't.

With the NFL having more parity now than in the past, it really helps not to have to give up too many points. I just wipe those games off of my slate, and focus on the others.

I am sure that many would argue the success factor of this method, but so far, so good...I just refuse to give more than a field goal anymore.....There's still a lot of value to underdogs, and lower point spreads.

(not saying that this is the 'right' way to go, just passing on thoughts...)

Back to PATSFANINPA's point, then, in addition to what you said I think Vegas has KC pinned as a team that will come back down to earth. Between Weis leaving and having to play a division winner's schedule, I wouldn't be surprised if that division win turns out to be a bit of a fluke. Going 10-6 against a creampuff schedule doesn't inspire a ton of confidence, really.

Click to expand...

I think you hit it right on the head here. These reasons, combined with the overall poorer effort by KC last year vs. any team with a winning record I think. They were able to prey on the weaker sisters, and even hung in there at times against some better teams, but tell me--was that wildcard game vs. BAL not the pick of the year last year??? LOL. KC just doesn't have the 'it' factor yet, but they had a nice overall youth effort last yr. Charles is a nice guy to have as a RB, and Hali and Eric Berry look like great building foundations on the defense.

I too, am expecting them to come back down to earth, possibly even worse than we think. I could easily see a 8-8 or 7-9 record, no doubt.